A federal judge on Monday rejected a lawsuit from an atheist who said having the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins and dollar bills violated his First Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. said the minted words amounted to a secular national slogan that did not trample on Michael Newdow’s avowed religious views.
"There is no proper allegation that the government compelled plaintiff to affirm a repugnant belief in monotheism," Damrell said in dismissing the suit.
Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, also is engaged in an ongoing effort to have the Pledge of Allegiance banned from public schools because it contains the words "under God."
I hope he is a better doctor than he is a lawyer. If not interviewing his ex-patients might be difficult without breaking Levitical law about seances.
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Frankly, I’d prefer the motto banned than have it dismissed as a “secular national slogan”.
Of course, it should not be banned, because it is not an establishment of religion.
The Motto (and the Pledge) are basically philosophical statements that the State is not God! Some such acknowledgement, however vague (“higher power”, even, perhaps “thank whatever gods may be”) should be in place. The principle is, first of all, true: the government is NOT all-mighty and even less all-wise. Secondly, it is essential that this principle be recognized if people of good will and more-or-less well-formed conscience are to avoid being persecuted by the Dictatorship of Relativism.
hahahaha!
He thinks because he is an atheist he can eliminate our freedom of religion?
What a maroon…
For people who are convinced God doesn’t exist, atheists sure seem angry at Him a lot of the time!
Good grief — enough Michael Newdow already! People like him are the REASON federal judiciary bureacrats are supposed to exist: to throw his law suits in the garbage before a judge ever sees them. (You might recall that he’s the crank who caused all the furor with the Pledge a few years back.) It’s getting to the point where he’s like the inmate who files a law suit every week because he got the wrong kind of sandwich.
Personally, I’m glad Michael Newdow is challenging this stuff. You know, the phrase, IN GOD WE TRUST isn’t offensive by itself and we atheists aren’t mad at the magical invisible man living in the sky. What offends me, and possibly us, is the constant reminder of how stupid people are.
For those of you who cannot imagine a world without God, substitute the phrase Santa Claus and see how the motto sounds. In Santa Claus we trust sounds dumb, is dumb, and if 80% of your fellow citizens TRULY believed this should be our national motto, you’d be as embarassed by the whole thing as I am.
The motto, the pledge, etc. all of this stuff, FORCES ME to choose between my country and the Truth. I want to be a good patriot and be proud of my country but I’m more in love with the truth, and I will always defend the truth over these lies.
That is why I ALWAYS use a magic marker to black out the word God from the motto on all my paper money. I strongly encourage others to do the same. It’s very liberating.
Pardon the pun, but this may bear repeating:
An atheist was walking through the woods one day in Alaska admiring all that evolution had created.
“What majestic trees !
What a powerful river !
What beautiful animals!” he said to himself.
As he walked alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 13 foot Kodiak bear beginning to charge toward him. He ran as fast as he could down the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was rapidly closing on him. Somehow he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer. His heart pounding in his chest he tried to run even faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up he saw the bear reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to deliver a killing blow.
“OH MY GOD !” he pleadingly screamed.
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
Even the powerful river stopped flowing.
A brilliant light shone upon the man and a thunderous voice came from all around,
“YOU DENY MY EXISTENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS. YOU TEACH OTHERS THAT I DON’T EXIST. YOU EVEN CREDIT CREATION TO SOME COSMIC ACCIDENT. DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HELP YOU OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT? AM I TO COUNT YOU AS A BELIEVER? “
Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, “It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years and under these circumstances but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian? ”
“VERY WELL” said the voice.
The light went out.
The river ran.
The sounds of the forest resumed.
The huge bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed and spoke…………
“Lord, thank you for this food which I am about to receive.”
Oh, Mr. Herrick, don’t you know that “In God we trust” is just the abbreviated form? The long version is “In God we trust – all others pay cash.” I hope that makes you feel better. 🙂